100%

Scanned image of the page. Keyboard directions: use + to zoom in, - to zoom out, arrow keys to pan inside the viewer.

Page Options

Share

Something wrong?

Something wrong with this page? Report problem.

Rights / Permissions

The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes. These materials may be under copyright. If you decide to use any of these materials, you are responsible for making your own legal assessment and securing any necessary permission. If you have questions about the collection, please contact the Bentley Historical Library at bentley.ref@umich.edu

November 20, 2008 - Image 62

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 2008-11-20

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

Join us

Buy one
Lunch Entree
and get the
second Entree
FREE everyday

Thursday, November 27th
for a Thanksgiving Buffet

All the traditional
Thanksgiving fare plus
Fish, Pot Roast, Italian
favorites from the .
menu and desserts. .

Italia

Fresco

RESTAURANT

4

Now taking reservations ;
Adults $20.00
Kids 12-5 $8.00
4 and under Free

Of equal or lesser value,
one coupon per table

Not good with any other offer.
Expires 12/30/08

rts & Entertainment

S. !

•.







2 5

Sunday thru
Thursday

Jewish Wolverine Benny Friedman
changed football forever.

OFF

the total bill

Exp 12/30/08
Dine in only • One per table
Coupon must be presentes
Cannot combined with any other offer

248.855.1259

OPEN DAILY FOR LUNCH AND DINNER

Italiafresca.net

Siegetio Deli at

3426 L West Maple Rd. at Haggerty Rd. (248) 926-9555

Osommmsymmmmommm

p

I DRINK, SANDWICH
and FRIES $5.99 I,

expires 11/30/08

t Fresh Fruit Basket

Carry out only

DAIRY TRAY $11399

Includes
Fresh Fruit Basket

expires 11/30/08

1.1.1

includes coffee
$1399
& fresh fruit
ex pire s 11/30/08 Gratuity off oriainal

MMMMMMM

exgires 11/30/08

ANY DINNER wan

so AI

$7.99:

evires 11/30/08
MM e.e M mma
MM

I I LIBMINK01110
II Li COIANAW
1 11 PORTO SALAD
expires 11/30/08
LOAF oft in •
I I OT. NOMIMADI MORNS R1 IMMO I

$1999

I
BUY 1LS. CORNED BEEF
I
UT 2ND LII. TURKIT
1
FOR 9194
0
1
1 1 LB. ROAST BM FOR 1$

1

expires 11/30/08

rN

..... les us ro

DINS-IN OR CARRY OUT

, 1 lb. ilomomade 0101111104i Liver
fa49 9
1 lb. 1191 Sakti
9 F II
I, 1 lb. Tuna Salad
i 1 lb. chicken Salad expires 11/30/08 it

1

"""""1 20% OFF

994

expires 11/30/08 Gratuity off original bill.

MR NPR tee emi ......

GET 2ND FRU

A

11. . ......

I.

PS OM PM

Buy1 SANDWICH,
SOUP and DRINK I,

I

pm so mg 1181 4.II% 11. WM RN ate am RPM VW MP Mg MO OW OW ON MO

.11.

MI W. NPR NW MR NO INIF IMI MR

it

I

expires 11/3W08

-

MI PI MP

I

II

Dine in only

your TOTAL
food bill

Not good with
any other offer

— ANY TIME —

expires 11/30/08

ew Seoul Garden

Authentic Korean & Japanese Cuisine
Catering Available
Phone 1248) 827-1600
Open Daily

www.newseoulgarden corn

C14

November 20 2008

Morton I. Teicher
Special to the Jewish News

T

Take out all occasion catering. Dine In. Carry out. Delivery.
4111 Orchard Lake Rd. at Pontiac Trail • Orchard Lake

i i DIELI
TRAYS..
Includes

Victor Valiant

27566 Northwestern Hwy.

he name of Benny Friedman,
the subject of the new book
Passing Game by Murray
Greenberg (Public Affairs; $26.95),
is not particularly well known today.
Nevertheless, as Greenberg — a for-
mer litigator and graduate of Brandeis
University and Columbia University's
Graduate School of Journalism
— demonstrates, Friedman made a
transformative contribution to the
way college and professional football
is played; and during the 1920s and
1930s when there was a good deal of
overt anti-Semitism in America, he
and others — such as Benny Leonard
and Barney Ross in boxing — contra-
dicted the negative image of Jews as
physical weaklings.
They were heroes to American Jews
of their generation just as were Hank
Greenberg and Sandy Koufax to later
sports fans.
Friedman was born in Cleveland in
1905 to Orthodox Jewish parents who
were working-class Russian immi-
grants. He attended public school and
afternoon Hebrew school. Impatient
to stop going to the latter so he could
devote the time to football and body-
building, he left Hebrew school at
age 12 and soon entered high school,
where he tried out for the football
team.
Seen by the coach as too small for
the team, Friedman transferred to
another, mostly Jewish high school,
where he led his team not only to a
city-wide championship but to a vic-
tory in one of several "national cham-
pionship" games played each year.
He then entered the University of
Michigan, where he played his first
full varsity game in 1924 against
Wisconsin, in a 21-0 win. Elected
captain of the Michigan Wolverines in
1925 — a time when college football
ruled and pro teams drew crowds only
in the hundreds — Friedman enjoyed
enormous success as an All-Big Ten
and All-American quarterback under
Coach Fielding Yost, who came out of
retirement to coach him.

Then, football was a tough and often
brutally dangerous running game in
which the forward pass was a despera-
tion measure; in fact, the rules severely
discouraged passing. The ball was flat
and roundish, almost impossible to
grip and push more than a few short
yards.
But Friedman had developed excep-
tionally strong hands stretched wide
by exercises he performed as a teen;
he was able to grip the ball, cock it
behind his ear and hurl it downfield to
receivers with unprecedented accuracy.
His unique abilities stunned coaches,
who created defensive formulas just to
attempt to stop his passes.
Practically every game Friedman
played is detailed in Greenberg's book,
featuring especially Friedman's prow-
ess as a passer and his rivalry with
Red Grange, star of the University of
Illinois team.
After graduating from U-M in 1927,
Friedman began to play professional
football with the Cleveland Bulldogs.
A year later, the team, renamed the
Wolverines, moved to Detroit. Soon
enough, the owner of the New York
Giants bought the team; he had
noted the large turnout of Jews when
Friedman played in New York and
acquired the entire Wolverine roster
for the Giants just so he could get
Friedman. (Pro football didn't return
to Detroit until 1934, when a Ohio
team, renamed the Detroit Lions, was
purchased and moved to the Motor
City)
Playing in New York and captain of
the Giants, Friedman was a big hit;
a sportswriter there called him the
"greatest football player in the world!'
During the 1928 season, he led the
league in passing and in rushing, a
feat never accomplished before or
since. On Dec. 14, 1930, in a char-
ity exhibition game between a Notre
Dame all-star team and the New York
Giants, Friedman led the Giants to vic-
tory, the first time pro ball was able to
trump college ball.
In the off-season, Friedman worked
on Wall Street and took a part-time
job coaching the backfield at Yale. In
1931, he married Shirley Immerman,
who came from a "patrician" German

Back to Top

© 2025 Regents of the University of Michigan